Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom convened some 200 of his supporters in his home in Ramat Gan last night. The group, including mayors, Likud chapter heads and other Likud activists, is concerned that Prime Minister Sharon may replace Shalom with Shimon Peres if a national unity government is formed. A leading Shalom supporter in the Likud, Raanana Deputy Mayor Uzi Cohen, threatened just last week that if Shalom is ousted, it would lead to "World War III."
Minister Shalom himself warned last night that bringing Labor into the government will "bring about an anti-religious and secular government, one that will lean strongly to the Left and towards a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
Shalom is joined by several other Likud Party ministers and many other MKs in his opposition to a unity government with Labor. To offset the concerns that the government might become anti-religious, Prime Minister Sharon has contacted the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties. UTJ has already said that it would demand a ministerial portfolio or two, in contrast with its decades-long tradition of not taking active part in the Israeli government.
The contacts with the hareidi religious parties immediately prompted the Shinui party to emphasize its long-held objections to sitting in the same coalition as them. Party leader and Justice Minister Tommy Lapid allowed himself to say, "If Labor joins up with the religious parties, we will give them a 'donkey's burial' in the next elections." A Labor spokesman responded, "Lapid [a former journalist -ed.] seems to have forgotten that such coarseness may be appropriate for journalism, but not for a Justice Minister. In any event, if he wants to serve in the Hevra Kadisha [burial society] - to each his own."
Prime Minister Sharon also poured cold water on Shinui yesterday when he told reporters, "Shinui is a good partner - but we don't have a majority."
In Labor, too, at least four MKs are strongly against joining fortunes with the Likud. They claim that the differences between Likud and Labor are too great, and that joining up with the Likud would erase any vestiges of an independent and strong Labor Party. Unity-government supporter MK Chaim Ramon, on the other hand, says, "The only question we have to ask ourselves is what will help advance our departure from Gaza."
Minister Shalom himself warned last night that bringing Labor into the government will "bring about an anti-religious and secular government, one that will lean strongly to the Left and towards a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
Shalom is joined by several other Likud Party ministers and many other MKs in his opposition to a unity government with Labor. To offset the concerns that the government might become anti-religious, Prime Minister Sharon has contacted the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties. UTJ has already said that it would demand a ministerial portfolio or two, in contrast with its decades-long tradition of not taking active part in the Israeli government.
The contacts with the hareidi religious parties immediately prompted the Shinui party to emphasize its long-held objections to sitting in the same coalition as them. Party leader and Justice Minister Tommy Lapid allowed himself to say, "If Labor joins up with the religious parties, we will give them a 'donkey's burial' in the next elections." A Labor spokesman responded, "Lapid [a former journalist -ed.] seems to have forgotten that such coarseness may be appropriate for journalism, but not for a Justice Minister. In any event, if he wants to serve in the Hevra Kadisha [burial society] - to each his own."
Prime Minister Sharon also poured cold water on Shinui yesterday when he told reporters, "Shinui is a good partner - but we don't have a majority."
In Labor, too, at least four MKs are strongly against joining fortunes with the Likud. They claim that the differences between Likud and Labor are too great, and that joining up with the Likud would erase any vestiges of an independent and strong Labor Party. Unity-government supporter MK Chaim Ramon, on the other hand, says, "The only question we have to ask ourselves is what will help advance our departure from Gaza."